Jon Favreau and Company premiered the eagerly awaited Cowboys & Aliens on Saturday night July 23. Instead of one of the more traditional LA venues, the red carpet was laid for the  Comic Con crowd down at San Diego’s Civic Theater.

There was a HUGE turnout from cast and crew! In attendance were the director himself,  producers Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Steven Spielberg, multi-hyphenates writers Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzmanas well as cast members Daniel Craig (sorry, no Mrs. Craig. He put her on a plane earlier in the day), Harrison Ford (who did bring the Mrs. and I must say she’s holding up very well!), Olivia Wilde, Abigail Spencer, Paul Dano, Sam Rockwell, Walton Goggins, Clancy Brown, Keith Carradine, Adam Beach, Noah Ringer, Ana de la Reguera and Raoul Trujilo.

The event was, like an other premiere, not open to the general public, but 2000 fans attending Comic Con were given the chance to get in. Director Favreau said “I owe the fans at Comic-Con so much, and it is only right that they are the first people who will get to see ‘Cowboys & Aliens’. By bringing the world premiere of the movie to San Diego, it’s my small way of thanking them.”

Comic Con also yielded another cool new retro-looking poster for the film, to go with the other two released back in June. This is the coolest one yet, in my opinion. They all look like 60′s era James Bond by way of Saul Bass (who did the titles and poster art for Hitchcock’s 50′s  and 60′s films like North by Northwest, Psycho, Vertigo and The Birds) and totally groovy. The new one is by Daniel Danger and comes courtesy of the Mondo booth, by way of Ain’t It Cool. It’s simple and severe and pits the cowboys vs the aliens in a manner that suggests an old “Twilight Zone” episode, suggesting the fate of the cowboys should they lose their fight. I love it!

Cowboys & Aliens opens this week in the US & Canada on July 29! Skweeeee! The UK gets it on August 17.

Photos: Nikki Nelson/WENN